Many types of packaging are known for use with food marketed by fast food-type restaurants. Specialized bags and boxes are known, which fit and surround the containers containing the food served, and which can be used to transport these food containers to a waiting vehicle. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,173 to Forbes describes a carryout tray with top, bottom and side walls. Slots are provided for various foods and for a drink. The Forbes patent is expensive to manufacture due to its layered construction, which requires a relatively large amount of material, as can be seen in the unfolded view of FIG. 1.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,927 to Sorensen et al. describes a tray for take-out food, having slots for food, drink and condiments, and pop-out legs at its extremities which support the tray when placed on the lap of a user. The Sorensen patent suffers from the disadvantage of having the cup-holder off-set to one side, which makes the tray unwieldy to balance when filled, tending to tip towards the cup-heavy portion. Additionally, the tray will tend to slide when the vehicle moves, as the tray cannot be anchored in place during use.
An attempt to overcome this problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,119 to Eisenberg, which describes a lap tray for use in a moving vehicle. The tray has straps which surround a user's legs to anchor the tray. The straps are independent of the seat-belt. Inclusion of straps adds considerably to the cost of manufacture. The strap arrangement would not be suited to young children, who tend to resist being constrained.
Novelty trays include U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0140023 to Noble, describing a compartmentalized tray which may be hung from the vehicle window or may be placed on a lap; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0205640 to Pecorino, which describes a compartmentalized tray to be hung from the seat-back of a chair in front of the user, such as in a stadium.
The need exists for a food tray with a simpler design, which would be economical to manufacture, having a minimal amount of material. The food tray should be properly designed to be balanced when full, and not side-heavy which would be cumbersome. The tray should have an anchoring element such as a stand which prevents tipping or sliding when used in a moving vehicle.
The present invention provides a tray overcoming these disadvantages; the tray is simple to manufacture and thus inexpensive to produce. These and other advantages are described in the detailed description of the invention that follows.